Microbes Churn Out Hydrogen at Record Rate

FiReaNGeL writes to mention that Penn State Researchers have improved on their original microbial electrolysis cell design bringing the resulting system up to better than 80 percent efficiency when considering all energy inputs and outputs. "By tweaking their design, improving conditions for the bacteria, and adding a small jolt of electricity, they increased the hydrogen yield to a new record for this type of system. 'We achieved the highest hydrogen yields ever obtained with this approach from different sources of organic matter, such as yields of 91 percent using vinegar (acetic acid) and 68 percent using cellulose,' said Logan. In certain configurations, nearly all of the hydrogen contained in the molecules of source material converted to usable hydrogen gas, an efficiency that could eventually open the door to bacterial hydrogen production on a larger scale."

Comments

Re:A good step... but not carbon neutral.

[Khyber]

due to thermodynamics, plants can't create more H20 and C02 than they take in

Considering plants 'INHALE' CO2, they're not going to produce it to begin with. Only us non-plant types produce CO2.

And for fuck's sake - EVERYTHING IS CARBON NEUTRAL. Unless something extraterrestrial smacks into this planet and adds carbon weight to our planet, NOTHING produces more carbon, as it's been here already the whole fucking time. The whole fucking idea is a SCAM - and if you can't see it, you need new glasses. The "Carbon neutral" people need to be skinned alive, because they're only introducing a bullshit muck into the rest of the issues of global preservation. Screw carbon, what about that Radium cloud floating two inches above your head?